1:20 PM!
One on One Apartments!
Landlord Drew Hardesty had sunk every penny he made into his apartment complex. Relaxing in one of them he made a nice living off of the other eleven one-bedroom units. Retirement was cozy for the 70-year-old in his final days. All he had to do was maintain and catch his reruns of I Love Lucy. Always cheery, always courteous, Drew took care of his tenants well.
Seeing as he had twelve apartments, he was so nice he even made his rounds of each apartment subtracting one hundred dollars off their rent utilizing a hat draw system just to keep them there. More than fair, each month was a new tenant to save a bit of money. Twelve units he only lost twelve hundred a year. It was worth it to see them happy and keeping him out of debt.
Today was furnace filter day. Once a month he invited himself into their lives just to change out the filters to keep them efficient. Having a Master key, he would let himself in and leave a courtesy note and a Hershey's Kiss to let them know he was there. No one ever complained of his invasion. He did knock first and knew everyone's schedule. They loved the old codger to death. He would be missed!
BOOM!
********
"What was that?"
Grace Goode walked alongside her bicycle with her friend Maria Salazar on the other side steadying her newly acquired young niece, Lola. The adorable deaf girl however hadn't heard the explosion in the distance to warrant cries of uncertainty. Plucking Lola from her seat Maria took off running. With smoke rising and sirens wailing on their way to the accident she just knew it was her home. Had Lola's father found them that fast? A warning shot so to speak. With a burger joint across the street Grace hopped on her mountain bike and caught up to Maria.
"Where are you going?"
"To seek cover in the McDonald's. I fear Lola's father has tracked her caretaker here and is sending me a threat that I cannot hide."
"You're just presuming! Go sit in there and I'll head home to see if it's even our place. There are fifty other homes around us Maria. I'll come back shortly. Get Lola a Happy Meal."
"I have no money on me."
Circling back on her bike Grace stopped and dug into her fanny pack. She always kept ten dollars just in case. Handing it off to Maria she simply said, "Keep her safe." Turning around Grace shot off down the block. With police cars arriving ahead of her, the more she worried, they were going in the right direction.
"There's Officer Whitmore and Riley Filmore." More, the merrier! A Wildwood firetruck sounding to get out of the way was let through, Chyna Whitmore closing off traffic by leaving her car flashing and standing on the street directing people from the area. The busty blonde did her job even though she was worn out after last night at Margo Needy's estate. This explosion could have meant things were not over.
Rolling up on Chyna, Grace stopped next to her. Knowing Chyna well due to her Aunt Sally from her father's church they were acquainted. "What's going on, Chyna?"
"Stay away! Apartment explosion over at Drew Hardesty's place."
"I rent from Drew. Oh, my God!"
"Shit! Go on, just stay out of everyone's way. I hope your place survives; report says it's going up fast. It might take out the whole complex."
"Crap!"
Grace thanked Chyna and rode on through, staying on sidewalks rather than the street to avoid cars leaving their homes as directed by firefighters. Smoke in the air was billowing in thick clouds, flames seen over the other houses in the distance. Panic was minimal but still enough to bring tears to residents having to flee and not knowing for certain the end results.
Her own emotions were welling up the closer she intruded on the scene. In all honesty she was surprised Chyna let her into harm's way. While yes, she had things to lose in her apartment, like furniture but those could be replaced. She had renters' insurance thanks to her father. Clothing loss and memorabilia were more bothersome. Her trophy's from running track in high school made her pout. Those would be harder to replace. At least she wasn't home when this all happened.
Having taken little Lola to the small park near the drop off point Grace and Maria were saved the jolt of actually being at home at the time. Even Maria was going to lose what little she had in the world. Unlike Grace her apartment was furnished by the owner, so her losses were more intimate. No money was definitely going to hit her hard.
Coming up on the blaze and the chaos of multiple firetrucks from surrounding towns she stopped at a safe distance. Seeing Riley Filmore and Officer Mitchell Byrd escorting homeowners to safety Grace rolled up on Byrd, Mitchell having graduated two years ahead of her back in the day. He too had run track.
"Hey, Mitch."
"Get to a safer locale, Goody Two-Shoes." His nickname for her track star status.
"I live in those apartments."
"Not anymore. That whole place is going down."
"Any casualties?"
"Only one that the firefighters and paramedics have found. Dare I say it, his body parts. The landlord took the brunt of the blast. Bomb squad out of Billingsly is on their way, but suspicion is it happened on the second story. Looks like everybody was at work or out. Glad you're still hot, just not that kind of hot." He winked but remained concerned.
"Thanks, Byrdy! Me too! I lived on the second floor. Wow!" Her heart froze in the moment, "I could have been killed."
"Which apartment?"
"2D!"
"Left to, right? The alphabet."
"Uhhh? Left almost dead center. My friend Maria lived in 2B, but I know she's okay I just had lunch with her." Cover story! "Let's, see? Ryan was in 2A, but he should be at work. Sanitation Department! 2C was some old guy who drank a lot. I think he worked days too. I avoided him. 2E was a guy named Raoul, kind of creepy but dressed nice. I saw him leave last night around 10:00 maybe. I don't see his car around so he's probably elsewhere. He left with a pool cue bag last night."
"Raoul, you say!" She turned at another voice, Deputy Sheriff Riley Filmore was walking about now that his fellow Officer Samuel N'Dolla had come in after a few hours of rest, Sam being clipped by a bullet last night. Simple bandages sufficed.
"She lived in 2D." Byrd warned Riley.
"Yeah! Hi, Deputy Filmore."
